Hi Leanne here.

As you probably know, the upcoming referendum is a response to the Uluṟu Statement from the Heart - which was the culmination of a representative consensus vote from the Uluru dialogues. It is backed up by 13 years of work by the Referendum Council. The vote is part of what our First Nations community collectively agreed and prioritised for action.

At ACC we believe that this vote is a social justice, humanitarian issue, not a left or right political issue. We’d be pleased if any Federal government committed to this process. And more pleased if it had bipartisan support.

The facts about disadvantage experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people outlined in the Statement itself are confronting. And the regularly updated Closing The Gap dashboard is also depressing and distressing reading. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people still die earlier on average than everyone else in Australia. Yes the gap is somewhat closing, but as a society we’re not meeting the set targets on this outcome. And other targets like Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children thrive in their early years have actually gone backwards from 2018 to 2021. Clearly existing approaches are not working fast enough, or even at all.

It is sensible that the people who experience the ongoing disadvantage have a guaranteed place at the table to provide advice and input to discussions about how to improve their particular circumstances.

Lawyers have confirmed that the proposed changes to the Constitution can do no harm - and may do some good.

At ACC we are hopeful that our community will also think about the bigger picture - the importance for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to: be recognised as having a unique place in our society as our first peoples, and have a say in their own destiny - acknowledging both the individual and community benefits that recognition and self-determination can bring.

ACC, in line with our peak body NHVic, and many other neighbourhood houses in Victoria, says YES to the Voice to Parliament.

And we hope that you too accept the direct invitation from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (our neighbours, family, colleagues and friends) so beautifully articulated in the Statement,

In 1967 we were counted, in 2017 we seek to be heard. We leave base camp and start our trek across this vast country. We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.

Hi Leanne here. Did you watch the FIFA World Cup this week? My girls are soccer ⚽️ 🥅 kids and we’ve been enthusiasts for this tournament.

So I went down to Alphington Bowls Club to watch the semi final match between England and Australia mid week. It was great! Thanks local bowling friends who organised it all.

I went there with my family and also my friend Tony Wilson who helped us make our podcast series Covid Roulette. He wrote about it on his blog ‘Good One Wilson’. He’s always amusing.

You can read what he wrote here if you are interested, and follow along in his World Cup journey in other posts - he’s been to Brisbane and Sydney for games.

How lovely are these little seed packs created by our gardeners on Friday!

They’re out in the seed library ready for neighbourhood planting … if you’re ready to start your spring garden pop past!

Over the last month or so we’ve been working on the somewhat neglected garden bed right at the front corner of our site. It’s always been a bit unkempt, and we’ve never quite known if we are maintaining it or if Council is. But recently we officially agreed that we would take charge into the future … and we started giving it a new lease of life with a little garden bed on top (donated by the neighbours across the road when they moved out - thanks!) and we filled it with fogo compost goodness … and we also took out the scrappy woody bushes that were making it awkward to sit on the bench seat … all in preparation for the planting of an insect attracting garden.

This week (on Friday) we started our replacement planting, thanks Darebin Council for the tube stock. We’ve got lots of lovely low growing mostly local indigenous plants going in - building on the legacy the Graeme started with the grasses he planted a few years ago - and we’re hoping the new plants survive and thrive. We’ll also be adding in some fabulous outdoor art I expect (we just have to come up with an inspiring idea!). So keep an eye out …

Thanks to everyone who helped out with the planting - and thanks to all the passers by who shared words of encouragement as we toiled away!

The weirdest thing happened on Friday … someone came along and completely emptied our little book library!? Whilst we were there I think … our community gardeners said it was full at 10am but it was definitely completely empty by the afternoon … so odd.

In addition, over the school holidays two of our little toadstool cushions that make our cubby house so cute disappeared, as did our outdoor table tennis bats, and Bim and Tig - the little salt and pepper shakers that were on holiday in our birdcage … and all the other fun recycled community art that Lee had created for community enjoyment.

We’ve put lots of things out on the street for people to use in the last few years and left our site open for community access after hours - trusting in community goodwill. So it’s all a bit disappointing. Sigh.

Anyway … if you have some books we’d love to restock the book library. And we’ll get new outdoor bats for the table tennis so it can be used again - it has really been super to see all the different people who stop for a quick hit (you can tell from the worm spots on the grass how popular it is!).